PORTSMOUTH — It’s been a creative year for our local artists — join them for the 12th year of the Portsmouth Holiday Arts Tour and find out what they’ve been up to.

Eleven artists welcome the public into their art studios on the weekend before Thanksgiving for socializing and holiday shopping. This is the original arts tour of the seacoast, and it remains a free tour — no entrance fee or tickets to punch! Follow the self-guided tour along a three-mile loop in town and stop to see what’s new. Artists at each studio will feature their new work along with the designs they’ve become known for. Work is for sale, and many studios will have ongoing demonstrations throughout the weekend.

Artists reveal their new work during the Opening Night celebration with refreshments on Friday, November 16 from 5-8pm. The Tour continues during the day on Saturday, Nov. 17, 10am-5pm and Sunday, November 18 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tour maps can be downloaded from the website at www.portsmouthartstour.com. Signs marking each studio with numbers and balloons will be posted to help navigate the driving loop.

Studio 1: 911 Greenland Road

Artists: Maureen Mills, recipient of a 2012 Fellowship award from the NH State Council on the Arts to work on large scale ceramic forms that include text and graphics. Her new work is also influenced by her travels to Tokyo, Japan for a Ceramics Symposium.

Steven Zoldak is working on a new line of traditional redware pottery.

Karen Orsillo’s colored Porcelain pots and jewelry are based on a Japanese technique called neriage or nerikomi. This year she traveled to Japan to visit the source of her inspiration.

Studio 2: 78 Peverly Hill Road

Artist: Dyanna Smith’s glass beads, jewelry and sculpture is influenced this year by natural themes as she spent the year exploring filmmaking and local farms as part of her dissertation research in environmental studies.

Studio 3: 782 Middle Road

Artist: Neil Troost’s Fine Art Photography has expanded his product line over the past year and is now printing and stretching his own canvas gallery wraps which look spectacular in a wide variety of sizes. He is putting the finishing touches on a new website featuring over 400 images aimed toward a national online audience.

Artist: Tess Feltes is showing oil landscape paintings and will be demonstrating a bird painting in the studio, in addition to her wildlife art.

Studio 6: 220 South Street

Artists: Kristina Logan was the Master Presenter and Master Teacher for the International Society of Glass Beadmaker’s Conference in Seattle WA this year. She is currently in exhibition at the RAM (Racine Art Museum) in Racine WI showcasing glass used in jewelry. Last year, the Corning Museum of Glass acquisitioned one of Kristina’s Constellation Necklaces for their permanent collection.

Reg Logan will show her ceramic and insect jewelry.

Studio 7: 66 Rock Street

Artists: Peter Happny recently demonstrated for a blacksmithing group in Bergen, Norway. He will be displaying a group of new fun, small sculptures and doing short demos for kids and the general public during tour hours.

Lisa Grey is working on a series of new scarves and photographs drawing inspiration from her travels to Thailand, Nepal and Tibet. In addition she will exhibit new fabrics and papers naturally dyed with leaves and flowers.

Visit www.portsmouthartstour.com for details, studio locations and tour map. For more information please call 603-436-3818, or any of the participating artists.